In the beginning of september 2015, we spent a couple of days in the beautiful Provence region. No trains this time, but a good portion of sports, among which riding up the Mont Ventoux by bicycle! A great experience. The highway back home led us over the famous ligne 4 connecting Paris and Belfort. Right around the time we passed there, 2 trains were supposed … Continue reading Coincidence
Dutch Railways recently announced that all their trains run on sustainable energy. That means, they buy their energy from a supplier that produces green energy “somewhere”. The physical energy the trains run on, still comes from the nearest production site, be it a green one, a nuclear one, coal fired or other. I’m sure this Eurocity train is using energy produced in a nuclear power … Continue reading Green or nuclear energy?
After the previous shot of the Eurocity to Basel, we had some time before the next Eurocity would come. We had a place in mind, but no idea how to quickly get there… nevertheless, we decided to stay a bit longer at the previous location, in case a freight train would come. Alas, no luck, just a bit less time to find our next spot. … Continue reading No need to run
Still last summer… one of very few sybic engines carrying the En Voyage livery hauls Eurocity n° 97 from Brussels to Basel. The train left Luxembourg a few minutes after the TGV service to Paris… which would now be the fastest train if you would want to travel to Switzerland from Luxembourg. Continue reading En voyage
Still waiting for the next Eurocity, we ended up in Baranzy. I had seen photos at this location before, from the other direction. It turned out to be nice for northbound trains as well. My little secret: at the Delhaize grocery store closeby, you’re likely to find full crates of Orval beer 😉 Continue reading Grocery shopping
For our final shots, we crossed the Truckee River and climbed up a slope on the other side of the valley. The slope was close to a golf terrain: we found balls all over the place. So, hoping not to be hit by a lost golf ball, we set up our gear, hoping to see one more train before heading back home. We were lucky: … Continue reading Lost golf balls
The last full day of the trip. Before heading back towards San Francisco, we wanted to give the Donner Pass railway another try. The day before, we didn’t get to make a photo of a freight train, hopefully we would be able to make up for it. We had seen some possible photo locations close to were we had been waiting the day before, east … Continue reading Last chance
On Donner Pass, the afternoon is a perfect time for taking a nap. Very few freight trains seem to be using this route, part of Union Pacific’s transcontinental Overland Route: we saw only one eastbound grain train. Fortunately, the California Zephyr heading to San Francisco was running on time. Right behind the locomotives, a dome car is part of the train. Unfortunately, I have no … Continue reading Time for a nap
On the trip’s second to last day, before heading back to San Francisco, we visited the railway line over Donner Pass. It’s a very scenic route, but you need to be there early, I think, to see some traffic. Freight trains didn’t come by, but fortunately the line sees a daily passenger train. The California Zephyr has left Truckee and is now on its way … Continue reading School bus
Next Eurocity would be in a couple of hours. We chose to spend our time in Fentange, hoping for a freight train. We got B-Logistic’s 1338 with an empty steel train, probably to Bettembourg. Continue reading Steel
Railscapes 